Sheet stacker with jogger

ABSTRACT

A sheet stacker with a jogger for conveying, jogging and stacking a stream of imbricated sheets. A sheet conveyor supports the stream of sheets in a horizontal orientation and includes two support portions which are adjacent each other along the path of the stream and at different elevations for creating a bend in the stream. A jogger plate is disposed at the location of the bend, and it reciprocates to align the edges of the sheet in the stream as the stream passes the plate. Pressing rolls are disposed downstream from the jogger plate to press the stream compactly, and an inverting drum carries the stream to a stacker platform where the sheets are stripped from the conveyor and are aligned in a stack. The jogger plate and the presser rolls are adjustable, and the entire unit is portable for moving to a position adjacent the delivery from a folder or the like.

United States est 1191 Stobb Mar. 18, 11975 SHEET STACKIER WITH JOGGER' [75] Inventor: Anton R. Stobb, Pittstown, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Stobb, Inc., Clinton, NJ.

[22] Filed: May 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 363,067

[52] US. Cl 271/198, 271/186, 271/221, 271/250 [51] Int. Cl B65h 29/14 [58] Field of Search 27l/D1G. 8, 186, 188, 198, 271/209, 212, 221, 222, 223, 48, 49, 59, 58, 199,45, 250, 238, 240, 212

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,615,590 1/1927 Low 271/48 3,182,996 5/1965 Hoffswell 271/186 3643939 2/1972 Nussbaum et al. 271/221 X 3,653,656 4/1972 Stobb 271/68 3,667,751 6/1972 Zernov et a1. 2.71/49 3,761,080 9/1973 Larson 271/209 3,781,005 12/1973 Stobb et a1 271/212 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 857.871 l/196l United Kingdom 271/45 Primary ExaminerEvon C. Blunk Assistant E.ranzinerBruce H. Stoner, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirnzArthur J. Hansmann [57] ABSTRACT A sheet stacker with a jogger for conveying, jogging and stacking a stream of imbricated sheets. A sheet conveyor supports the stream of sheets in a horizontal orientation and includes two support portions which are adjacent each other along the path of the stream and at different elevations for creating a bend in the stream. A jogger plate is disposed at the location of the bend, and it reciprocates to align the edges of the sheet in the stream as the stream passes the plate. Pressing rolls are disposed downstream from the jogger plate to press the stream compactly, and an inverting drum carries the stream to a stacker platform where the sheets are stripped from the conveyor and are aligned in a stack The jogger plate and the presser rolls are adjustable, and the entire unit is portable for moving to a position adjacent the delivery from a folder or the like] 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIE I U AR 1 .81 5175 I sum 2 0F 3 SHEET STACKER WITH .IOGGER This invention relates to a sheet stacker with a jogger for conveying, jogging, and stacking a stream of imbricated sheets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sheets stackers are known in the printing industry, and they are commonly used for receiving sheets which have been printed and folded and which are therefore delivered from a folder and onto a conveyor which moves the sheets in an imbricated stream. The stream of sheets is directed to a stacker platform where the sheets are stripped from their stream relation and are aligned in a stack, as desired. In these prior art stackers, the sheets are not guided or touched by the operator, but instead they are completely handled by the stacker mechanism including the conveyor which commonly consists of conveyor belts on which the sheets are dropped in their imbricated and stream relation.

One of the major concerns in the stacker industry is to have the sheets stacked in a neat and compact stack with a minimum of attention from the operator and of course with a minimum of expensive and complex stacker machinery. In the prior art stackers, conveyors, joggers, press rolls, inverting drums, and the like have already been used, and examples of these are generally found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,188,082 and 3,653,656 and in US. re-issue Pat. No. 26,004 which shows stream jogger members. However, these prior art patents do not disclose the structural arrangement and the functional results which are in the present invention.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a stacker with a jogger and wherein the sheets are disposed in a stream relation and are aligned in the stream in a very accurate arrangement and are then compressed in the stream and are finally stripped from the stream relation and positioned in an accurately aligned stack. Further, it is an object of this invention to accomplish the aforementioned with mechanism which is relatively simplified and which is not expensive nor complex and which can be readily positioned in a printing plant for receiving the printed product from the printing press and the folder equipment.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a stacker with a jogger which aligns the edges of the sheets in their stream relation so that these sheet side edges are positioned for forming a neat and accurate stack on the stacker bed or platform. Particularly, the accomplishment of this invention is most significant with regard to the conveying, aligning, and stacking of thin and lightweight paper which is otherwise difficult to handle.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of a stacker of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the stacker shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a portion of the stacker and an enlargement of the stream of sheets thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The drawings show the equipment herein to include a framework which is shown to be supported on wheels 11 which may move on the floor designated 12. A conveyor 13 is shown adjacent the stacker equipment, and it moves in the direction of the arrow shown, and the conveyor 13 supports sheets or folded signatures 14 which are shown overlapped in an imbricated fashion. It will of course be understood that these sheets 14 have been dropped onto the conveyor 13 as the conveyor moves along and thus the imbrication is formed as shown, and it will also be understood that the sheets 14 are shown of a short size. The stacker frame 10 supports a first conveyor 16 which is shown to be of a belt type of conveyor indicated by a simple line drawing, and the conveyor 16 moves in the direction of the many arrows which are shown along theconveyor 16. Thus rotatably mounted members 17, 18, 19, 21, and rotatably mounted drum 22 support the conveyor 16, as shown. A motor 23 can be utilized for moving the conveyor 16 in the direction of the arrows thereon, and it will therefore be understood that: the stream of sheets coming from the conveyor 13 will be passed to the conveyor 16 and will eventually be placed into the stack designated 24 and which is located on the stack platform 26. Therefore, the conveyor 16 passes the stream of signatures or sheets to the second conveyor 27 which is also trained on the rotatable drum 22 and on the rotatable members 28, and the conveyor 27 extends across the platform 26 to deposit the signatures in the stack 24 as the signatures come against the stop 29 and are thus stripped from their stream relation and are placed into the aligned stack 24, as shown. The rotatable drum 22 is shown to be powered by the motor 23 through the drive belt 31, and thus the conveyors l6 and 27 move at opposite sides of the stream of sheets as they bring the sheets into the stack 24. Actuallythe stack 24 is shown to be of sheets longer than the sheets 14, and the latter are shown only for purposes of explanation and convenience so that the imbrication can be shown with regard to the sheets 14.

The conveyor 16 is also controlled and supported by rotatable members 32 and 33, and it will be seen that the member 32 receives the stream of sheets from the supplying conveyor 13. Further, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the members 32 and 33 are at different elevations, and the stream of sheets is passed between these two adjacent conveyor portions or members 32 and 33 which rotate in the direction for advancing the conveyor 16 as indicated by the arrows thereon. Because of the off-set or different elevation between the members 32 and 33, the sheet stream designated 34 in FIG. 4 assumes a bend at the location designated 36, that is the location between the members 32 and 33, and this bend is about a line extending across the width of the stream 34. Of course the conveyor 16 continues from the rotatable member 33 and on to the rotatable drum 22, as shown in FIG. 1.

By virtue of the bend or curve in the stream 34 at the location designated 36, the sheets at that location 36 are stiffened and can therefore be hit or jogged into alignment by means of the jogger generally designated 37. Therefore, the jogger 37 has a stationary jogger plate 38 and a reciprocable jogger plate 39 flanking the location of the stream bend 36, and therefore the opposite side edges of the sheets in the stream 34 can be hit and placed into accurate alignment with each other for the purpose of control and accurate stacking.

Additionally, the conveyors 16 and 27 lead the stream of sheets between the two conveyors and between two rotatably mounted press rolls 41 and 42 which are suitably mounted on the stacker frame and are actually under the influence of a compression spring 43 which is adjustable by means of a nut 44 extending on the rod 46 connected to a shaft 47 which rotatably supports the upper press roll 41, as shown. Therefore, the stream of sheets is moved between the rolls 41 and 42, and the rolls are pressed toward each other so that the stream is pressed after it has been aligned and it thus holds its aligned position as it moves around the drum 22 and into the stack 24.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the jogger 37, and here it will be seen that the frame 10 has side rails 48 and 49, and rods 51 and 52 extend between the side rails and support blocks 53 and 54 which have the rods 51 and 52 extending therethrough. The blocks 53 and 54 respectively carry the alignment or jogger plates 38 and 39, and it will also be seen that these plates respectively have turned-out ends 56 and 57 for guiding the stream between the plates 38 and 39 as the stream is carried along by the conveyor 16.

The plate 39 is reciprocally mounted by means of a pivot arm 58 pivotally supported on the block 54 through the pivot pin 59. A motor 61 connects to the arm 58 through a box 62 which has a shaft 63 extending upwardly and into an eccentric 64 which is constrained by an elongated slot 66 in the pivot arm 58. Thus, rotation of the shaft 63 will cause the eccentric 64 to gyrate and to therefore pivot the arm 58 about its pin mounting 59, and thus the jogger plate 39 will oscillate or reciprocate toward and away from the stream of sheets which is between the plates 38 and 39. In this arrangement, the plate 39 will hit against the edges of the sheets in the stream and will force the sheet edges against the plate 38 and will align the sheet edges in the hitting action. The jogger plate 39 is of course secured to the arm 58 by means of screws 67, as shown.

FIG. I shows that the conveyor 16 is above the jogger mechanism described, except of course for the jogger plates 38 and 39 which flank the stream of sheets, and, more particularly, the plates 38 and 39 are located adjacent the curvature 36 in the stream so that the stream is stiffened, by virtue of the curvature, and therefore the action of the jogger plate 39 can cause the sheet edges to align without being distorted or otherwise bent when they are subjected to a jogger. This is particularly significant when the sheets in the stream 34 are of a thin material.

The jogger plates 38 and 39 can be adjustably positioned across the width of the stacker so that the plates can be lined up, as needed and as desired, relative to the path of movement of the stream passing between the plates 38 and 39. Thus, the shafts 51 and 52 can be rotatable and can have threaded arrangements with the mounting blocks 53 and 54, such that, upon rotation of the shafts or rods 51 and 52, the blocks 53 and 54 will be displaced along the length of the rods 51 and 52. Adjusting knobs 68 are shown on the ends of the rods 51 and 52 for the purpose of this rotation and threaded adjustment, and therefore the mounting blocks 53 and 54 have threaded holes, such as the hole 69 shown in FIG. 3. Also, compression springs 71 and 72 are disposed between the mounting blocks 53 and 54, respectively, and the sides of the stacker frame 10, as seen in FIG. 2, for keeping the blocks 53 and 54 in the snug and desired position.

With the arrangement described, it will therefore be seen and understood that a stacker with jogger is disclosed, and the stacker conveyor has a portion which forms a bend in the stream of signatures, and the jogger is located at that bend, and the press rolls are located downstream from the bend so that after the sheets are aligned they are pressed into their aligned stream relationship, and thus the stream can be brought firmly and completely into the stack 24 and the stack will also be a well-aligned stack. In this arrangement, the conveyor 16 is formed to have its two portions 32 and 33 spaced apart to present a discontinuance in the conveyor so that, under the force of gravity, the bend will be formed in the sheet stream 34, the sheetswill then still be susceptible to the hitting or jogging action described so that they will align as described. Also, as seen in FIG. 2, the plate ends 56 and 57 are farthest apart at the upstream location of the stream of sheets, and thus the sheets are funneled between the plates 38 and 39 so that the sheet edges are aligned as they advance therebetween. The plates 38 and 39 extend for a substantial distance along the stream or conveyor 16, and they extend to a very close position relative to the press rolls 41 and 42 so that the aligned sheets are immediately pressed and then passed to the inverting or turning drum 22 where the sheets can then be stripped off onto the stack plate 26. In this arrangement, the support for the lower press roll 42 can be by virtue of a shaft 73 fixedly supported on the frame 10 so that the conveyor 16 will be on an incline from the rotatable portion 33 and up to the top of the press roller 42, and thus the movable roll 41 can bear downwardly on the conveyor 27 trained on the roll 41 and above the stream of sheets.

With this arrangement, the jogger plate 39 has its greatest jogging displacement at its end 57 which is adjacent the gap between members 32 and 33 of conveyor 16. Also, the jogger plates 38 and 39 are shown spaced apart with their greatest spacing at their ends 56 and 57, upstream on the sheet stream 34, and the plates extend parallel to and flanking the stream 34. Also, the pivot pin 59 is downstream from the ends 56 and 57, and the plate 39 has its least jogging displacement adjacent the pivot pin 59. Finally, the pressing rolls 41 and 42 are downstream from the pivot pin 59, that is, from the jogger itself.

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet stacker with a jogger, for conveying, jogging, and stacking a stream of imbricated flexible sheets, comprising a horizontally disposed sheet conveyor for supporting said stream thereon in a horizontal orientation and including two support portions disposed adjacent each other along the path of said stream and being horizontally spaced apart and with the one of said portions which is downstream from the other of said portions being disposed at an elevation lower than the elevation of said other portion to have said portions present a gap therebetween for passing said stream across said gap and from one of said portions to the other of said portions and to thereby permit said stream of sheets to curve in its said path of flow and about a line extending across said stream and downwardly across said gap and thereby cause said sheets to stiffen in the directions parallel to said line, a plate pivotally disposed adjacent the side of said stream and extending adjacent the location of the bend in said stream and being movable into and out of contact with the edges of said stiffened sheets adjacent said plate for jogging said sheets into alignment with each other, a pivot mounting for said plate and disposed downstream from the location of said gap and relative to the stream movement of said sheets for greater pivotal movement of said plate at its extent adjacent said gap than at the pivot location on said plate, oscillating mechanism connected to said plate for inducing the pivoting of said plate, and a stacker platform disposed adjacent said conveyor and downstream from said plate for receiving the aligned said sheets when the latter move off said conveyor.

2. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, including a stationary plate disposed adjacent the side of said stream opposite from said pivotal plate for contacting the edges of said sheets.

3. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, including an adjustable mounting for said pivotal plate for selective positioning of said plate toward and away from said stream, and said plate being disposed with the end thereof which is upstream, relative to said stream of sheets, being farther from said stream relative to the downstream end of said plate.

4. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, including a pair of pressing rolls rotatably disposed along the path of said stream between the location of said plate and said stacker platform, with one of said rolls above and one below said stream for pressing said stream as it moves between said rolls and after it has been aligned by said plate.

5. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 4, including a conveyor belt in said conveyor, a second conveyor belt movably disposed in line with a portion of the first said conveyor belt, and said conveyor belts being trained on respective ones of said pressing rolls and extending between said pressing rolls for guiding said stream therebetween.

6. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, wherein said oscillating mechanism includes a motor, a shaft rotatably extending from said motor, a pivot piece supported on said stacker and having said plate mounted thereon, and an eccentric connection extending between said shaft and said pivot piece for inducing the oscillating pivot movement of said plate. 

1. A sheet stacker with a jogger, for conveying, jogging, and stacking a stream of imbricated flexible sheets, comprising a horizontally disposed sheet conveyor for supporting said stream thereon in a horizontal orientation and including two support portions disposed adjacent each other along the path of said stream and being horizontally spaced apart and with the one of said portions which is downstream from the other of said portions being disposed at an elevation lower than the elevation of said other portion to have said portions present a gap therebetween for passing said stream across said gap and from one of said portions to the other of said portions and to thereby permit said stream of sheets to curve in its said path of flow and about a line extending across said stream and downwardly across said gap and thereby cause said sheets to stiffen in the directions parallel to said line, a plate pivotally disposed adjacent the side of said stream and extending adjacent the location of the bend in said stream and being movable into and out of contact with the edges of said stiffened sheets adjacent said plate for jogging said sheets into alignment with each other, a pivot mounting for said plate and disposed downstream from the location of said gap and relative to the stream movement of said sheets for greater pivotal movement of said plate at its extent adjacent said gap than at the pivot location on said plate, oscillating mechanism connected to said plate for inducing the pivoting of said plate, and a stacker platform disposed adjacent said conveyor and downstream from said plate for receiving the aligned said sheets when the latter move off said conveyor.
 2. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, including a stationary plate disposed adjacent the side of said stream opposite from said pivotal plate for contacting the edges of said sheets.
 3. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, including an adjustable mounting for said pivotal plate for selective positioning of said plate toward and away from said stream, and said plate being disposed with the end thereof which is upstream, relative to said stream of sheets, being farther from said stream relative to the downstream end of said plate.
 4. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, including a pair of pressing rolls rotatably disposed along the path of said stream between the location of said plate and said stacker platform, with one of said rolls above and one below said stream for pressing said stream as it moves between said rolls and after it has been aligned by said plate.
 5. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 4, including a conveyor belt in said conveyor, a second conveyor belt movably disposed in line with a portion of the first said conveyor belt, and said conveyor belts being trained on respective ones of said pressing rolls and extending between said pressing rolls for guiding said stream therebetween.
 6. The sheet stacker as claimed in claim 1, wherein said oscillating mechanism includes a motor, a shaft rotatably extending from said motor, a pivot piece supported on said stacker and having said plate mounted thereon, and an eccentric connection extending between said shaft and said pivot piece for inducing the oscillating pivot movement of said plate. 